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Operation Epic Fury / Lion's Roar Second Day Edition

The Likely Suspects

The Republicans Defying Trump Over Iran Strikes

An array of Republicans have come out against the Trump administration's strikes that were conducted alongside Israel on Saturday against Iran.

Why It Matters
While Republicans in Congress, for the most part, supported President Donald Trump’s strikes on Iran, dubbed "Operation Epic Fury," the pockets of defiance demonstrate that the GOP isn’t as unified as the administration would hope.

The U.S.-led strikes on Saturday morning struck multiple targets in Iran, killing at least 200 people, and injuring over 740, according to Iran's Red Crescent, per state television. The Islamic Republic then launched retaliatory strikes across U.S. bases in the Middle East, widening the conflict.

The attacks mark a sharp escalation following recent nuclear talks between Washington and Tehran and raise the risk of a wider regional conflict. They come as the U.S. has deployed additional warships, aircraft and air defenses to the Middle East in what analysts describe as the largest U.S. buildup there since the Iraq war in 2003.

Trump campaigned on an “America First” platform during the 2024 election, but his second term has featured major foreign interventions, including a U.S. operation that captured Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and U.S. strikes on Iran last June in coordination with Israel that the administration dubbed “Operation Midnight Hammer.”

What to Know
Senator Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, has long opposed the U.S. getting entangled in overseas military conflicts, and on Saturday criticized Saturday's operation.

“The Constitution conferred the power to declare or initiate war to Congress for a reason, to make war less likely,” the senator wrote on X. “[James] Madison wrote that ‘the Executive Branch is the branch most prone to war, therefore, the Constitution, with studied care, delegated the war power to the legislature.’ As with all war, my first and purest instinct is wish Americans soldiers safety and success in their mission. But my oath of office is to the Constitution, so with studied care, I must oppose another Presidential war.”

Representative Thomas Massie, also a Kentucky Republican who has been leading the House effort with Representative Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, to pass a war powers vote, wrote that he is “opposed to this War. This is not ‘America First.’ When Congress reconvenes, I will work with @RepRoKhanna to force a Congressional vote on war with Iran. The Constitution requires a vote, and your Representative needs to be on record as opposing or supporting this war.”

The call for a vote in Congress aligned with prominent Democrats’ positions. Virginia Senator Tim Kaine wrote on X that Trump "launched an unnecessary, idiotic, and illegal war against Iran that puts America’s servicemembers and embassy personnel at risk. I’m calling on Congress to immediately return to vote on my War Powers Resolution that blocks war with Iran without congressional approval.”

Marjorie Taylor Greene, who retired from Congress early this year after a falling out with Trump over the Epstein files, wrote a lengthy post on X saying she felt betrayed by the president, noting his campaign promised to avoid foreign wars.

“We said ‘No More Foreign Wars, No More Regime Change!’ We said it on rally stage after rally stage, speech after speech,” the former Georgia Republican congresswoman wrote. “Trump, Vance, basically the entire admin campaigned on it and promised to put America FIRST and Make America Great Again…It’s always a lie and it’s always America Last. But it feels like the worst betrayal this time because it comes from the very man and the admin who we all believed was different and said no more.”

Representative Warren Davidson, an Ohio Republican, was asked on X by a user if he supports the strikes on Iran to which the congressman responded, "No. War requires Congressional authorization."

Two days before the strikes, Davidson wrote on X: "I have asked for a classified briefing defining the mission in Iran. In the absence of new information, I will support the War Powers resolution in the House next week. War requires Congressional authorization. There are actions short of war, but no case has been made."

Tucker Carlson, a former Fox News host, told ABC News' Jonathan Karl the attack on Iran was "absolutely disgusting and evil."

Meanwhile, John Fetterman, a Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, took a stance more akin to most Republicans, writing on X: “President Trump has shown time and time again, you NEVER threaten America. God Bless our great troops, God Bless President Trump, and God Bless America.”

In a separate post, he wrote in regard for a call for a war powers vote by Congress: “Committed Democrat here. I’m a hard no. My vote is Operation Epic Fury.”

What People Are Saying
President Donald Trump said in a video posted to Truth Social on Saturday: "Our objective is to defend the American people by eliminating imminent threats from the Iranian regime, a vicious group of very hard, terrible people. Its menacing activities directly endanger the United States, our troops, our bases overseas, and our allies throughout the world."

Senator Lindsey Graham, a South Carolina Republican, on X: "A word of advice to our regional Arab partners and other allies: get behind President Trump and go all in to ensure the ayatollah’s Iran, which has become the largest state sponsor of terrorism in the world is no more.  Stand with the people and stand against the ayatollah. You won’t regret it if you do."

Former U.S. ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul on X: "Trump is now the 'neocon' that he has ridiculed for all of his public life. Trump has just openly called for regime change in Iran. He is using the American armed forces to facilitate that outcome. This is a complete reversal of what he has been promising his supporters for decades."

Meghan McCain, conservative commentator and daughter of the late GOP Senator John McCain, on X: "Remember when every maga personality screamed at the top of their lungs that anyone with the last name McCain was a blood thirsty neocon warmonger who would bomb Iran and had no place in the Republican Party? Yea I didn’t forget that either."

Senator Mark Kelly, an Arizona Democrat, on X: "The United States has the most capable military in the world. I have complete confidence in our service members, and I’m praying for their safety. The question is never whether they can do the mission. It’s whether the mission makes sense and makes us safer—and what it’s going to cost. The Iranian people deserve freedom. They deserve the right to choose their own leaders. So, what's the plan for what comes next? I don’t think Donald Trump knows the answer, and that’s dangerous when American lives are on the line."

Reactions in Europe

France, Germany, UK ready to take 'defensive action' against Iran
France, Germany and the UK said Sunday they were ready to defend their interests and those of its allies in the Gulf if necessary by taking "defensive action" against Iran.

The three countries' leaders were "appalled by the indiscriminate and disproportionate missile attacks launched by Iran against countries in the region, including those who were not involved in initial US and Israeli military operations", said the joint statement.

"Iran's reckless attacks have targeted our close allies and are threatening our service personnel and our civilians across the region," the statement added.

"We call on Iran to stop these reckless attacks immediately.

"We will take steps to defend our interests and those of our allies in the region, potentially through enabling necessary and proportionate defensive action to destroy Iran's capability to fire missiles and drones at their source," said the statement.

"We have agreed to work together with the US and allies in the region on this matter."

Iran has launched a series of missile and drone strikes on several Gulf countries, saying it is targeting US bases, after being hit by US-Israeli missile strikes from Saturday.

Iran's attacks have hit a multinational military base near Arbil in northern Iraq, and a German army camp in the east of Jordan, a German army spokesman told AFP, confirming media reports.

There had been no casualties in the attacks, he added.

Iran's Revolutionary Guards announced a "large-scale" attack on Sunday, and blasts were heard in Riyadh, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Doha, Manama, Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, with Israeli rescue services reporting at least nine people killed in the city of Beit Shemesh.

Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian declared Khamenei's killing a "declaration of war against Muslims" and warned: "Iran considers it its legitimate duty and right to avenge the perpetrators and masterminds of this historic crime."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi told US channel ABC News on Sunday: "We are defending ourselves whatever it takes, and we see no limit for ourselves to defend our people, to protect our people."

UK's Starmer says US can use British bases for defensive strikes against Iran missiles

March 1 (Reuters) - British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said on Sunday that his country has accepted a U.S. request to use British bases for defensive strikes against Iranian missiles in storage depots or launchers.

"The United States has requested permission to use British bases for that specific and limited defensive purpose. We have taken the decision to accept this request to prevent Iran firing missiles across the region," he said in a video message on X.

Starmer reiterated that Britain was not involved in the joint U.S.-Israel air strikes on Iran that killed the country's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Saturday, adding that Britain would not join further waves of strikes.

But he said Iran had retaliated by launching sustained attacks across the region and its missiles had hit airports and hotels where British citizens were staying.

"Our decision that the UK would not be involved with the strikes on Iran was deliberate, not least because we believe that the best way forward for the region and for the world is a negotiated settlement, one in which Iran agrees to give up any aspirations to develop a nuclear weapon," he said.

"But Iran is striking British interests nonetheless, and putting British people at huge risk."

Britain's partners in the Gulf had asked it to do more to defend them, he said, and it was his duty to protect British lives.

. . .

Reaction by Iranians Worldwide

Hundreds rally outside Iranian UN ambassador's Fifth Avenue residence calling for regime change
President Trump has ordered US warships within striking distance of Iran while considering attacks on nuclear, oil and military targets

Shouts of "Trump act now!" filled the sunny Saturday afternoon on New York's Fifth Avenue as hundreds of anti-Iranian regime protesters denounced the theocratic regime in Tehran and called for the U.S. to take action against Iran.

"We want freedom for the Iranian people," said protester Sarah Shahi.

"We want this theocracy that has been taking people's rights away to be taken out with whatever means necessary. We need help when so many people have been killed."

The protesters gathered across the street from the residence of Iran's ambassador to the United Nations and called for the regime in Tehran to be toppled.

The ornate 19th century limestone townhouse was originally purchased by the Iranian government under Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, the shah of Iran who ruled from 1941 until 1979. It has been the official home of the country's U.N. representative ever since. Protests have been rare at the location, but, at some point overnight, someone spray-painted the words "terrorists" and "killers" on the front facade.

The building's location is one of the most exclusive on the Upper East Side, diagonally across the street from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and less than a block away from the former residence of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

One protester's sign showed a photograph of current Iranian U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani with the words "A terrorist lives here."

"For the people of the Islamic republic to be residing here is just so unjust," said Shahi. "But it is the closest thing we have to an embassy" as a protest location.

Since Iran does not have diplomatic relations with the United States, the building is the only Iranian government-owned property in the country.

President Trump has ordered U.S. warships to within striking distance of Iran as he considers potential attacks against the regime's nuclear program, oil and military targets. The buildup is in response to Iran's continued support of terrorism and its brutal mass killings of protesters, with estimates saying as many as 30,000 people have been killed for participating in anti-regime street demonstrations.

The protesters in Manhattan are supporters of the late shah's son, Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who has been speaking out for weeks against the regime as its barbaric crackdown continued. Pahlavi has been in exile for 47 years since his father fled and the Iranian revolution ushered in the hardline religious Anti-American regime of the Mullahs.

The chants from the protesters were no less impassioned than those of their brethren who have flooded the streets of Iranian cities. Signs demanded "End the regime in Iran," and "Brave Iranians are fighting on the ground. The U.S. and Israel must act against a common enemy now." Other signs proclaimed, "No to the Islamic Republic regime," and "Make Iran Great Again."

The protesters say they are waiting for President Trump to take military action against the regime so that the nation can finally taste freedom.

Iranians celebrate worldwide after supreme leader is killed in Israeli strikes
Videos showed people across Iran and all over the world honking horns, cheering and waving flags as news of ayatollah's death spreads

Iranians across the country could be seen and heard celebrating the death of Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei after coordinated Israeli strikes overnight.

In one video, Iranians near Karaj, Iran, outside the capital of Tehran, took to the streets, honked their horns and cheered.

In social media videos, Iranians in Tehran cheered from their apartments, playing loud music and setting off fireworks as the news spread.

In Fuladshahr, people packed the streets, waving their arms in the air, whistling, honking and cheering over the news.

In Borazjan, Iran, celebrants chanted and, in Mamasani, they waved flags and danced.

People also celebrated in the Iranian cities of Shiraz and Abadan, "where the people are out on the streets till the wee hours of the night in celebration of an Iran that is on the brink of finding its freedom after almost five decades," according to Lisa Daftari, editor at The Foreign Desk.

Iranian people also cheered the news in other parts of the world, such as Madrid, London, Berlin, Armenia and the United States.

"Iranian people all over the world, from Los Angeles to Tehran, are on the streets celebrating [in] sheer jubilation over the dawn of a new and free Iran," Daftari told Fox News Digital.

"Iranians poured onto the streets cheering, clapping, waving the lion and sun flag, dancing openly and singing the old national anthem. It’s hard to imagine a people so starved for freedom, so desperate for justice, that they are cheering military strikes on their own soil as the price of liberation."

In Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian community in the U.S., hundreds came out to wave Iranian and American flags on Saturday.

Some people also held signs bearing expressions such as, "Make Iran Great Again."

"I love America. I love everything about this country," Iranian American journalist Masih Alinejad told Fox News Saturday.

"I grew up in a country where I was brainwashed to say, ‘Death to America,' the same country — how ironic — the same country that saved my life three times and is now helping my people in Iran. They’re celebrating. They’re celebrating out of joy.

"Thank you, President Trump, for taking decisive action. This is how true leadership looks like."

Los Angeles and other U.S. cities, like Boston; Washington, D.C.; and New York City held competing anti-war protests, as did cities in Europe.

Iranians chant and dance in the streets after US, Israeli air strikes: ‘I love Trump!’

Celebrations erupted across Iran as citizens cheered the US and Israeli missile strikes targeting the regime, according to reports.

Iranians were seen dancing and chanting in the streets Saturday morning in video circulating online after “Operation Epic Fury,” which unleashed strikes targeting Iranian leadership.

“I love Trump!” one student shouted as smoke arose from a nearby building, according to a clip shared on X and reported by The Telegraph.

Other footage showed people dancing in the middle of the road — an act of joy that has been criminalized by the Islamic regime since the 1979 Iranian Revolution.

Women smiled and twirled as music played and onlookers clapped, more footage shared by Iran International appeared to show.

Students at Tehran University held a demonstration in support of the US-Israeli military operation.

Demonstrators at the college in Iran’s capital city waved the country’s flags while chanting, an unverified clip posted on X by news outlet Rudaw showed.

The US and Israel also launched an attack on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s Tehran compound.

“When we are finished, take over your government. It will be yours to take,” Trump said Saturday, addressing the people of Iran.

“America is backing you with overwhelming strength. Now is the time to seize control of your destiny and unleash the prosperous and glorious future that is close within your reach.”

. . .

And this one ... is from an Iranian Publication...
'Thank you uncle Netanyahu': some Iranians praise Israeli strikes

Some Iranians expressed gratitude to Israel for assassinating military and political officials they viewed with contempt in video and voice messages sent to Iran International TV.

“I wanted to thank Israel and Uncle Netanyahu for what they did last night and to tell Iran: You are nothing. (You say you are) a power in the region, but three of your top commanders were killed in a single attack,” a viewer said in his message.

“I want people to get out [on the streets to protest] and be united with each other and to topple this blood thirsty government,” she added.

Following Israel’s military strike, the Iranian currency, the rial, experienced a sharp depreciation of at least 15% in the unofficial market.

The sudden plunge of the rial highlights growing public anxiety over potential escalation and lack of confidence in the government's ability to stabilize the economy amid intensifying geopolitical tensions.

Another Iran International viewer similarly thanked Israel but urged it not to forget to target Khamenei.

“No one approves of war, but I’m sure when it comes to the murderous and terrorist Islamic Republic, all the 80 or 90 million people in Iran approve of this attack,” she said.

“Now they will get the seriousness of the situation and will understand that although they may be able to bully the Iranian people and kill them on the streets, they can’t bully the world and the big powers,” she added.

In another message, a viewer expressed his happiness after realizing that the sound that woke him up was the sound of the explosion of Israeli bombs, not lightning.

“It was good news and a harbinger of freedom to all Iranians. Well done, Israel. You have avenged all those freedom-seeking youth who were torn apart and raped on the streets.”

In another message, a viewer said he was pleased by the Israeli attack which, according to the Israeli military hit dozens of military and nuclear sites and eliminated some of the country's top military leadership in an open-ended campaign dubbed "Rising Lion" by Netanyahu.

Iran has confirmed the deaths of several top commanders including the Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) Commander Hossein Salami, Chief of Staff of Armed Forces Mohammad Bagheri, and IRGC Aerospace Force Commander Amir-Ali Hajizadeh, and six nuclear scientists, including former chief of Iran's Atomic Energy Agency Fereydoun Abbasi.

There are also unconfirmed reports of the death of Ali Shamkhani, a top advisor to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, who has vowed a “severe punishment” and a “harsh response.

“Mr. Pezeshkian, do you remember saying Israel and America can strike Iran's nuclear facilities but can’t strike Iranian scientists? Israel just did that,” he asked. “Why do you speak so much nonsense?”

“You couldn’t do a damn thing! Thank you, thank you Uncle Netanyahu, even if it’s we [ordinary Iranians] who will suffer the consequences,” he added.

In a statement shared online, Iran’s exiled crown prince, Reza Pahlavi, accused Khamenei of dragging the country into a war that does not reflect the will of the Iranian people, calling the current conflict "Khamenei’s war, not Iran’s."

He urged Iran's military, police, and intelligence personnel to distance themselves from what he described as a “corrupt and incompetent leadership” and to join the people.

The path forward, he said in his message, is the overthrow of the Islamic Republic through street protests and nationwide strikes.

Khamenei described the attack as a "crime" that revealed Israel's "evil nature" by targeting residential centers and said Israel will face “a bitter and painful end”.

In response, Iran launched a barrage of drones and missiles toward Israel just hours after the attack. Israeli defense officials claimed all drones were successfully intercepted.

A military official said in a Friday morning briefing that 200 fighter jets had been involved in the operation.

He said air defenses, ballistic missiles ready to launch to Israel and missile manufacturing sites and facilities were also targeted in the strikes. The operation came as Iran's nuclear program "is approaching the point of no return and is rapidly advancing toward obtaining a nuclear weapon", he told reporters.

"We struck their nuclear plan, and we struck military targets—before they had the ability to strike us with weapons of mass destruction, with nuclear weapons. We had no other choice, and we launched this operation now because this is the most appropriate time in light of this concrete threat. They have already obtained enough uranium for 15 nuclear weapons," he said.